New investigations against Google

Author: Marcus Schilling
Date: 04.06.2019

US antitrust authority investigates Google

After fines have already been imposed on Google in Europe, the U.S. Department of Justice has now also initiated investigations against Google. In particular, the company’s search engine business will be examined.

The Wall Street Journal reported this with reference to anonymous insiders. In addition to the Google search engine, the Ministry of Justice also wants to examine other business areas. Google did not yet comment on this.

The Wall Street Journal reported this with reference to anonymous insiders. In addition to the Google search engine, the Ministry of Justice also wants to examine other business areas. Google did not yet comment on this.

Not the first time

Google has often been targeted by competition authorities in Europe and the USA. Already in 2011, the US antitrust authorities investigated Google for the placement of cookies in Apple’s Safari browser. At that time, Google had to pay a fine of 22.5 million dollars.

The FTC restarted the investigation not much later, but closed it again in 2013 without action. At the time, Google was willing to make voluntary changes.

Recently, Google was sanctioned by the EU Commission in March to pay a fine of 1.49 billion euros for abusing its dominant position in online advertising and obstructing competitors. In July 2018, the EU Commission imposed a record fine of 4.34 billion euros for its practices on Google’s Android operating system.